Monday
Aug022010
What I Learned at Maker Faire Detroit
Monday, August 2, 2010 at 10:15AM | Becks Davis After attending Maker Faire Detroit at The Henry Ford over the weekend I can tell you this: creativity, ingenuity, and a sense of play are alive and well in Detroit. Children and adults marveled at the interesting inventions, took a spin on some clever contraptions, and dare I say it, learned something.
A few things I learned:
- Smashing objects and tearing things apart can teach you as much as putting things together.
- Kids don’t need carnival rides to thrill them; they thrive on new and interesting ideas.
- Silly is always good.
- Children have no idea what a vinyl record is.
- You can use any fizzy beverage to make the same magic as the Coke Zero & Mentos guys. However, they use Coke Zero because it’s less sticky than the other soda pops. (See video below.)
- You can try their experiment at home, just make sure you use room temperature pop, cold pop won’t shoot as high.
- Everything you attempt doesn’t have to be perfect, just keep putting yourself and your ideas out there.
- Remember to have fun and follow your passion.
Keep inventing, making, tinkering, and doing-it-yourself Detroit! You did our region proud. I’m looking forward to Maker Faire becoming an annual summer tradition in Detroit.
A bit of a splash from the Coke Zero & Mentos Spectacular.
A clown dances on the car that a 2-ton safe fell on in the Life Size Mouse Trap.
A lttle girl is entralled by the Sashimi Tabernacle Choir Art Car.
Reader Comments (9)
Question: What in the world is that last picture of? It looks very interesting.
Food for thought: Would Vernor's, as fizzy as it is, be even better than Coke for a mentos fountain? It would be more Michigan-centric, too. :-)
Glad you got back in touch with your inner 8-year-old, Becki -- an ideal treat for a summer weekend.
J.M. Barrie (Peter Pan) had it right . . . and this Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up thinks we never should forget the life lesson you wisely listed first.
Wolfger,
The last picture is of a video game that seemed like air hockey meets pong on a touch screen. It was pretty cool but I was too entranced to get more info. I know, bad blogger. ;-)
Vernor's would definitely work! Great suggestion as we head into Buy Michigan Week.
The last picture is from a system that is running Microsoft Surface, their OS with touch-based interaction baked in.
Wow -- a baked operating system . . . who knew?!
Actually, I knew about cookies . . . so I guess it just stands to reason we can bake in chocolate chips or microchips. Mighty educational, this Maker Faire Detroit.
Thanks Chris!
I was mesmerized by the kids playing that I didn't get the info.
Alan,
Maker Faire wasn't just for kids, it was a great event for all ages. ;-)
Becks
Very cool video!
Thanks Jamie! I should have went in the kid zone to get a better view but I didn't want to be THAT GUY! And I didn't want to get sprayed by sticky pop. :D
I would like a invention that will track my remote control when it gets lost. I always seem to lose my remotes, and I wish there was a quick tracking device where it would beep and I could locate it.